


Nothing turns out right, there's no end in sight

by dancingsweetheart129



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sleep Deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25501057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingsweetheart129/pseuds/dancingsweetheart129
Summary: “So you guys are saying you haven’t seen or heard from him since we left?” Dick asked, following Conner’s line of thought. The three still seated nodded, and Conner stepped forward to take over the keyboard, ignoring the protests from Damian. He logged into the Titans database and found the most recently accessed case.“He’s put in over 300 hours on this case,” Kon said, heaving a sigh. “He’s been logged into it for the last 42 hours straight.”“Shit,” Dick sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Alright, everyone, field trip.”
Relationships: Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent
Comments: 7
Kudos: 158





	Nothing turns out right, there's no end in sight

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this late at night, I've missed writing, so enjoy

There was something missing in the manor when Bruce and his team returned.

He had been off world with Superman and Superboy, as well as Nightwing. Jason had been off doing he’d-rather-not-know with Arsenal, leaving the city to the younger members of the team.

Duke and Damian were at the main computer, going over a map with blinking orange dots. Stephanie was pacing, sneaking occasional glances at the computer as well.

“You all seem busy,” Dick said, leaning on the back of Damian’s chair.

“We’ve had a Penguin type situation here-“

“We’re handling it.” Damian interrupted, and Bruce inwardly sighed.

“Cass has been following it for the last few weeks, she’s following a lead to Chicago,” Stephanie said. And that accounted for almost all of Bruce’s children, except-

“Hey, where’s Tim?” Conner asked, glancing around.

“He started working on a case for the Titans right after you left,” Stephanie said, flopping into a chair by the computer as well.

“He said not to bother him,” Duke added.

“Which sucks ass because we could use him on this,” She said, motioning to the map. Damian glared at her for a moment before typing a few commands into the keyboard.

“We do not need Drake, I am perfectly capable of doing this by myself,” Damian explained.

“Well I guess just fuck us then,” Stephanie scoffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

“I think we work well as a team,” Duke said, giving the group a big smile. They all paused, however, when they heard a motorcycle zooming into the cave. Bruce knew who it was by the bike, Jason was a bit more of a reckless driver than Tim was, and his bike was a bike was a bit louder.

“What’s up, losers?” Jason asked as he parked and dismounted his bike.

“I was hoping you were Tim,” Dick said, fully turning around.

“Well gee, missed you too, Dickhead,” Jason said with a smirk, and Dick glared at him for a moment before waving him off.

“So you guys are saying you haven’t seen or heard from him since we left?” Dick asked, following Conner’s line of thought. The three still seated nodded, and Conner stepped forward to take over the keyboard, ignoring the protests from Damian. He logged into the Titans database and found the most recently accessed case.

“He’s put in over 300 hours on this case,” Kon said, heaving a sigh. “He’s been logged into it for the last 42 hours straight.”

“Shit,” Dick sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Alright, everyone, field trip.”

* * *

“Oh, this place is disgusting,” Jason said as soon as Conner opened the door to the apartment. Duke covered his mouth and nose, and Stephanie made a noise of disgust.

The apartment living room was covered in carry out containers, some still containing some slowly rotting food. There was a pizza box on the table that had what looked like pizza with onions on it that seemed to be the main cause of the smell. The television was on, but it was muted and there was music coming from the bedroom.

“Tim?” Dick called, glancing around. Damian poked his head into the kitchen and reeled back. Bruce followed and saw a mountain of dishes in the sink, as well as a few pots with burned something on the stove and one pot with soggy cereal and a ladle on the counter.

“How can you justify letting Drake run your company?” Damian asked.

“We have a custodial service,” Bruce retorted.

“Tim? Babe?” Kon called into the apartment, heading towards the bedrooms with the Bat crew right behind him. The music got louder as he got to the slightly ajar door to their bedroom, though the lights were off and there was only the tell-tale glow of the laptop. “Honey?”

He flicked on the light switch, and Tim groaned under the assault of their overhead light. The room was worse than the rest of the apartment. He couldn’t see the floor, which was covered in garbage, clothes and papers. The nightstands and dressers were covered in plates and glasses and carry-out containers. Tim was in the middle of the bed, in a make-shift nest of blankets, wearing one of Kon’s favorite t-shirts and boxers with his computer in his lap.

“Whoa, Tim, what died in here?” Dick asked, stepping around Conner. Everyone else made similar remarks of disgust, but Kon moved forward, slowly and gently. Tim was looking through him, blinking as he tried to clear his brain fog.

“Tim, Honey, it’s me,” Kon said, slowly climbing onto their bed. “When is the last time you slept, Baby?”

“Conner?” Tim asked, blinking a few more times. A flicker of recognition flashed in his eyes as Kon gently took his face in his hands, tilting his head up to take in the fully blood-shot eyes.

“Yeah, Tim, it’s me,” Kon said, and Tim’s eyes started to water. “Hey, shh, you’re okay.”

He hated leaving Tim alone like this. He hadn’t anticipated Tim isolating himself the entire time they were gone, he assumed he’d have his hands full with Gotham, but he’d been alone for a few weeks and it wasn’t healthy.

“Timmy, what’s going on?” Dick asked, sitting down on the bed as well.

“Conner,” Tim whined, leaning forward until he was being fully held, wrapped in his husband’s strong arms.

“Alright, let’s get you into a shower,” Kon said, scooping the man up into his arms. “You guys can go, I’ll take care of it.”

Kon moved to their bathroom, feeling Tim shaking against him. He didn’t hear everyone leave the apartment, but hopefully they would since Tim would be too overwhelmed to socialize.

“Hey, Honey, can you help me here?” Kon asked, setting him on his feet on the fuzzy bath mat. He pulled the t-shirt over Tim’s head, ignoring the slight whine he gave, and helped him out of his underwear before lifting him into the bathtub and turning on the shower before stripping himself.

“It’s cold,” Tim mumbled as Kon got into the shower with him, grabbing the shampoo first.

“Gotta give it a minute,” Kon sighed, helping Tim soak his hair and then scrub the soap into his scalp. “You wanna talk about what happened?”

“I missed you,” Tim sighed, and Kon grabbed him as he started falling asleep standing up.

“Oh, Tim, Honey, you gotta wait it out then we can go to sleep,” He said, stretching out his TTK to keep Tim upright so he could at least wash him down. He had trouble showering on a regular basis, it usually took a lot of encouraging from Kon to get him to.

Once he was clean, Kon scooped him up again, balancing him on the bath mat once more and taking a towel out from under the sink to quickly dry him off and wrap him up.

“You’re home,” Tim mumbled as Kon re-dressed.

“Yeah, Honey, I’m home,” Kon sighed, hefting Tim up into his arms again. Tim was asleep before he could even open the door, but when he did, he was shocked to see the room clean.

It wasn’t dusted or anything, but all the dirty clothes and garbage were gone, and so were the plats and glasses, and the bed was made neatly, laptop nowhere to be see.

“Let’s get you into bed, Babe,” Kon said, settling Tim on his side of the bed, taking him out of the towel and tucking him under the blankets until he adjusted into his normal sleep position. Kon took the towel back to the bathroom, turned the music down low, and shut off the lights before going to tackle the rest of the apartment.

When he stepped out, he saw everyone else cleaning the remainder of the apartment.

“You guys don’t have to do this, I can take care of it,” Kon said, watching Dick and Damian throwing things into a garbage bag. Jason was over in the kitchen, hand-washing dishes, handing them to Duke to dry. Bruce was and Stephanie were standing by the laundry room door, sorting clothes into piles on the kitchen floor.

“How often does this happen?” Dick asked, pausing his cleaning.

“Not often,” Kon shook his head. “But only because I try not to leave for this long. He has a lot of trouble being alone for so long.”

“Why didn’t you mention it?” Stephanie asked. “We would have come over and checked on him.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Kon shrugged. “I thought he’d be getting out of the apartment, but he locked himself in here. He would have gotten just as bad even if you came over because he was in his own little world.”

“Is he okay?” Dick asked, and Kon sighed, moving to start cleaning up the entry table.

“He’s asleep, probably will be until tomorrow afternoon,” He explained. “I’ve tried to get him to talk to someone about it, but he said he’s tried all kinds of medications and he doesn’t like who he is on them.”

“He has tried them,” Dick nodded, running a hand through his hair. “I feel horrible.”

“I really can clean this up, guys, you don’t have to,” Kon said, trying to wave them off, but then he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Dick.

“Kon, you’re our family now too. Go ahead and keep an eye on him, we’ll clean up and let ourselves out,” He said, and Kon smiled sadly at him. He took the advice and headed back to their bedroom.

* * *

When he woke up, it was to Tim leaping out of bed and sprinting to their bathroom. He glanced at his phone and saw that he had slept with Tim for a good ten hours, not nearly what Tim needed, but it was a start.

He heard the toilet flush and the sink turning on before Tim was reappearing and heading to his dresser. 

“I don’t think I’ve peed in like 14 hours,” Tim said as he slipped on a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. “What time is it?”

“Two in the afternoon,” Kon said as he stretched, reaching out to welcome Tim back into bed. “How do you feel?”

“Like I got a building dropped on me,” Tim said with a yawn. “Thanks for cleaning up.”

“I didn’t.”

“Huh?” Tim asked, pushing himself back up in bed. Kon propped himself up on an elbow.

“Everyone was worried about you, Tim,” Kon explained. “They all came over with me last night to check on you and they cleaned the whole apartment.”

“They saw me?”

“Hey, Honey, they’re not judging you,” Kon said, pulling him back down. “You hadn’t slept in days, you weren’t in your right mind.”

“Ugh,” Tim groaned. “Where’s my phone? I want to call them.”

He leapt out of bed, and Kon followed to make sure he didn’t get a coffee or something sugary that might keep him up more. He needed a caffeine-free tea and a small meal.

The rest of the apartment was neat, and Tim’s phone was sitting on the coffee table among the piles of folded, clean laundry.

“Honey, why don’t you wait until tomorrow?” Kon asked as Tim scrambled for his phone. He pressed the home button and found it dead, swearing under his breath. “Hey, Tim, baby, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!”

Tim whipped around, glaring at his husband, tears forming in his eyes.

“I’ve spent years being the mess of the family, I worked and I worked to make it better, and while I still have lapses, I don’t want any of them thinking I’m not even capable of taking care of myself,” Tim snapped, trying his phone once more to no avail.

“But, Tim-“

“Don’t say it.”

“You don’t take care of yourself,” Kon said anyways. “Capable or not.”

That’s when Tim really snapped, his body wracking with sobs where he stood in the middle of the living room. Kon hurried around the couch to wrap him in his arms.

“It’s hard,” Tim whined, and Kon nodded, rocking him slightly as he cried.

“It is, I know,” He sighed, resting his head on top of Tim’s. “But, Honey, they love you. They worry about you. You don’t have to pretend for them or for anyone.”

“I’m sorry,” Tim cried, and Kon felt himself smile a bit because Tim was still so sleep deprived. He’d have mood swings at the drop of a hat, it was almost like when Lois was pregnant with Jon.

They both turned as the doorbell rang, and Kon motioned for Tim to sit down on the couch, wrapping him in a blanket.

“I’m going to get that, and then I’ll make you a sandwich and get you some tea, okay?” Kon asked, and Tim sniffled and nodded.

He went to the door, pulling it open to reveal Tim’s family from the night before, bright-eyed and smiling except for Damian.

“Hey, guys,” Kon said, glancing back at Tim on the couch. “Thanks so much for last night.”

“Can we come in?” Dick asked, and Tim hollered back a ‘yeah’ that they took as invitation. “Timmy, you’re awake.”

“Yeah,” Tim repeated, getting to his feet with the blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. His eyes were drying, but he still sniffled and hitched a small sob. Dick walked further into the apartment and pulled Tim into a hug. “Thank you for everything.”

“You know we’d do anything for you, right?” Dick asked, pulling back and taking Tim by the shoulders. He didn’t nod, averting his eyes.

“Yeah, like wash your nasty ass dishes,” Jason scoffed.

“I vote we watch movies,” Stephanie said, putting a hand on Jason’s chest to shut him up. “Tim, park it.”

Tim smiled sadly, sitting back down on the couch as his family swarmed his living room. Kon went into the kitchen for a few minutes while everyone got settled, coming back with a half of a peanut butter sandwich and a mug of tea, and passed them to Tim as he sat down as well.

“Told you,” Kon whispered, kissing the crown of Tim’s head.

Tim was asleep again before the movie was even started.


End file.
